Dance, Magic Dance.

This really needs no explanation.

Full Rinse.

Washing off the grime of the past few months. I just moved in with my best friend and favorite girl in the world, and finally have some steady freelance work with "a Viacom company." I feel so incredibly fortunate - almost blessed - when I look at the hardships faced by those I care about, coupled with some of my experiences moving out of the cradle of the nation's capitol and into capitalism's landfill. But there's a fine gray line between cathartic release and exploitation, however tempting it is to transfigure these experiences into an above-average blog entry or even a book or short film. But time has a habit of broadening the gray area, so maybe one day I'll get on that.

"It's like everything happening at once..."

Entries in the Nidecker / Core77 snowboard design competition - both typographic studies on the "Nidecker" name, however from very different approaches. They were designed to be separate boards, but it would be pretty tight to have one as the reverse of the other. Reworking old concepts here - which is kind of the idea, I usually move on to something completely different before I'm satisfied with what's in front of me. Ideas We Forgot To Redo. (Click for higher-res versions)



Postscript: Two variations of the first design were selected as "notable entries" in the final competition; not bad considering some of the insanely-talented people who entered.

Let's Get Weird.

A few of the more gnarly pictures from Luray Caverns, which we checked out after MACRoCk - one of the more gnarly weekends I've had in a while. Back when my closest friends all began to move out west, I convinced myself there wasn't much left for me in the DC area. So of course I've been proved wrong a hundred times over since then, and I'm thankful to still know good people down there, both old friends and new.

The Wilderness of Mirrors (Part 2)

Benjamin Lee White, Untitled
2009

It took a lot of restraint to keep this piece within the commissioner's guidelines - sometimes simple is best, yeah?

Silver Thread.

Torche t-shirt redo; much much happier with how it turned out but I'm not holding my breath. Still, there's another submission in the works, and hopefully something positive will result between the two of them.

Arctic Exile.

I think my surroundings have been rubbing off on me more than I anticipated. Spring me from this icy prison, please.








In-between job-hunting, painting, and getting back into producing (major timewaster, I'll dedicate a future post to this), I'm duding up a couple shirts for Torche right now, yeehaw! I knocked one out maybe three months ago but it wasn't approved, and I decided to rework it from my original ink drawing because it reeked of a rush job. When all's said and done, it should look like an umbilical cord (think astral projection, not disembowelment). And if you think that's nasty, then just you wait - the second design will be the nastiest. If you're familiar with the band, then, well, you know...



Postscript: Things have been a little wonky with this blog, with the redesign and with me transferring it to my own server. Some of the functionality and conveniences of hosting it with Blogger are sadly gone, but it's a work in progress, bear with me and I'll make it worth your while, promise.

The Wilderness of Mirrors (Part 1)

Back in December my former landlord back in Virginia asked if I'd be interested in creating a piece of art for her, based off a drawing she'd seen in an old sketchbook of mine. I'd never been approached about this kind of thing by someone I wasn't related to or already good friends with; it was my first legitimate commission and I immediately agreed, even though I hadn't actually painted in years, and with full knowledge that I've never had the necessary patience or craft when it came to painting. I always kind of sucked at it. But I was also kind of broke. Now, two-and-a-half months and 14 conniption fits later, and I can finally see the finish line in sight. I've taken a few photos along the way to track the progress, a glimpse behind the often intentionally-enigmatic artistic veneer. My granddad used to say "never let them see you sweat," but that's provided you have a reason to sweat in the first place. Art isn't really fun by definition but it's not quite work either. It's meditative and revelatory, and that means there should be no curtains or facades.

Also, a word of advice: don't buy art supplies from sketchy online wholesalers on the other side of the country.

I Lied.

I was really posting here.

I also put together a portfolio site.

And all in the midst of falling for a girl and moving to NYC (read: Jersey City).

Jersey City. No joke.

But aside from having a different set of priorities for the past 5 months, I stopped posting on here because it eventually became this oppressive thing in my life that I felt compelled to do. I started Ideas We Forgot to straight-up kick my ass; and in the process it became an end in itself, when it was really just supposed to be a means to an end. A stepping stone as they say.

So now that I'm semi-settled in and seem to need another metaphorical ass-kicking, I'm bringing it back. Create our own problems, something to do, you know. This time around I want to focus less on finished work, more on process and craft, and let this be a depository for ideas, influences, anything goes.

And while I was at it I had to hit refresh on the layout. I'm my own worst critic and it was beginning to look tacky. I still have a lot to learn about design. I'll be fine-tuning the code over time because I'm pretty amateur when it comes to the web stuff.

In short, sorry to leave you hanging old friend.

Waiting For The Next End Of The World.

It's pretty obvious things have slowed down to a drawl here. I'm planning to eventually replace this blog with a legitimate portfolio website, which is what I should've had all along really. And then I'll probably be posting a lot more here: www.ideasweforgottosteal.com